Reversible motor fan



May 20 1924.

V. F. ROTTER REVERSIBL MOTOR FAN Filed Jan. 20, 1925 attenta# lll Patented y ae, i924.

STATES vincular r. Returns, or coDY, WYOMING.

REVERSIBLE Moron FAN.

Application :filed January 20, 1923. Serial No. 613,913.

,o all who/m. it may concern:

Beit known that l, VINCENT F. ROTTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cody, in the county of Park and State of Wyoming, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reversible Motor Fans, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to rotary fans used in motor cars for the purpose of drawing air through the radiator and, forcing the air back upon the engine toy keep the water in the radiator cool, and the general object of the invention is to provide a construction of this character in which the blades of the fan are reversible so that the air may be drawn through the radiator and directed over the engine or drawn over the engine and directed through the radiator to thus prevent, if desired, the freezing of the `water in the radiator or, if the water in the radiator has frozen, melt it. j j

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which is relatively simple,v which may be cheaply made, and in which the fan blades are readily reversible whenever desired.

Other objects will appear in the course ofy the following description.

My invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is an end elevation ofa motor fan constructed in accordance with my invention, the hub beingin section; j

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional View through the hub, the springs being removed.

Figure 3 is an inner end elevation of one of the fan blades; j

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that my improved fan includes a hub which is longitudinally bored at 11 and which is formed to provide a pulley 12. The hub is mounted upon the usual stub shaft 13 or in any other suitabley manner. The

head of the hub from which the fan blades radiate is provided with a plurality of sockets 14, the sockets being rectangular in plan view and preferably tapering inward, and these sockets are designed to receive the inner ends of the shanks of fan blades 15. The shanks 15a of the fan blades are rectangular in cross section and tapered so as to tit the sockets, and the sides or facets of the shank are disposed at an angle of to the fan.` These fan blades are thus insertibleinto or removable from the sockets 14. The fanblades may be formed in any suitable manner, either of a single piece of material or the blades may be stamped up out ofsheet metal.

In order to hold the blades to the sockets,

I provide a series of eyes 16, there being an eye disposed between each two sockets 14, and these eyes projecting from the periphery of the hub. Preferably, though I do not wish to be limited to this, these eyes are formed `by a convoluted wire 17 which is Cast within the hub, as illustrated in Figure 1, this wire-extending down lbelow the sockets and then extending out from the periphery of the hub to form the eye 16. By this construction the eyes are rigidly engaged with the hub so that they can under no circumstances pull out. Of course, any other suitable means of making this eye might be used.

The fan blades are provided adjacent their outer ends with double hooks 18 and on eachside of each fan blade there is disposed a coiled contractile spring 19, one endl of which is engaged with one of the hooks 18 and the other end of which is engaged with the corresponding eye 16. There are preferably two of these springs to each fan blade and these springs act to hold the Shanks of each fan blade in full engagement withthe sockets Aof the hub. When it is desired to reverse the fan blades a pair of pliers or other like instrument is applied to the extremity of the blade and the blade pulled outward until the shank is sufficiently detached from the socket to permit the blade to be rotated through a quarter circle, which will reverse the angle of the blade.' The blade is then released andthe springs will once more draw the blade into engagement with the socket. This construction permits all of the blades on a fan to be reversed in about half `a minute, and it isobvious that the construction permits the blades to be withdrawn from the sockets every now and then so as to insure that the blades have not corroded in the sockets and become so adhered thereto as to prevent the ready removal of the blades. The hub, of course, may be formed in any desired manner and I do not wish to be limited to the particular shape of the hub nor to the particular manner in which it is mounted or in which it is lil() driven, though like most motor blades it is to be driven by means of a belt passing over the pulleys 122-.

yIt will be seen that in this construction the blades are very solidly and rigidly supported upon the hub and are not mounted upon arms, and furthermore that the-blades are so constructed that each blade maybe formed of one piece of metal or of a plurality of pieces of metal as may be desired, and that the device is very simple and cannot readily get out of order. I have found in actual practice that by the use of this device it is possible, by reversing the fan blades,

' to prevent the water in the radiator from freezing, as the hot air from the engine may be forced through the radiator, thus keeping the water inthe radiator at the higher temperature than the freezing point. Furthermore, I have found in actual practice that if the water in the radiator be frozen, as after the car has Vbeen standing for sometime, it is onlyl necessary to withdraw the fan blades from their normal position, re-

verse them, and then start the engine, whereupon the hot air is drawn from the engine and forced through kthe `radiator and that this willr thaw out a frozen radiator. Normally, of course, the fan blades will be in such position that they will act to draw in cold airthrough the radiator and force it out by the engine. Of course, if the car is being driven against a cold wind which would tend to freeze the water in the radiator, the fan blade may be reversed so as to keep the radiator 'from freezing. l

Illiile I have illustrated certain details of construction and arrangement of parts which I have found in actual practice to be thoroughly effective for the purpose intended, I do not wish to be limited thereto as it is obvious that many changes might be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim v 1. A motor fan comprising a hub having radially Ldisposed sockets, removable blades having their inner ends formed to provide shanks insertible into said sockets, the sockets and blades being so formed as to prevent oscillation of the blades in either direction around the longitudinal axis of the .blade when the blades are fully inserted in the sockets, and springs urging said blade's into the sockets.

2. A motor fan comprising a hub having a series of radial sockets, each socket being rectangular in plan view, removable blades having their inner ends formed to provide shanks rectangular in cross section which will it said sockets, and springs each engaging at one end with the hub and at the other end with a fan blade and urging said blades into the sockets.

3. A motor fan comprising a hub having radial sockets, each socket being rectangular in plan View and tapering toward its inner end, removable blades having their inner ends formed to provide Shanks insertible into said sockets, the Shanks being rectangular Vin cross section and tapering toward their inner ends to fit the sockets, and coiled contractile springs connected at their inner ends to the hub and at their outer ends to the blades and urging said blades into the sockets.

4;. A motor fan comprising a hub formed with radial sockets, each of said sockets being angular in plan, removable fan blades having their inner ends formed to provide Shanks angular in plan and fitting said sockets, the shanks and sockets tapering inwardly, eyes projecting from the hub between the sockets, and a pair of coiled contractile springs associated with each fan blade and connected at their outer ends Yto the corresponding fan blade and at their inner ends connected to 4said eyes.

5. A motor fan comprising a hub formed to provide a plurality of radial sockets, each of said sockets being rectangular in cross section and tapering inward, removable fan blades each having a shank rectangular in cross section and inwardly tapering and itting said sockets but movable therefrom, a wire embedded in the hub and extending beneath each of said sockets and then outward beyond the periphery of the hub between the sockets to form eyes, and a pair of coiled contractile springs associated with each fan blade and connected at their inner ends to the eyes, each fan blade having double hooks attached to it adjacent its end and to which the springs are connected.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afix my signature.

VINCENT F. ROTTER. 

